I’ve competed in 3 pageants so far; my first being the Miss Lasalle Pageant. This year I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to see the other side of pageant competition and be a judge.  I was so excited to be given this opportunity! I believe that due to my past experiences in pageants I appreciated being a judge, seeing as I could relate to the girls.

Meeting the judges

 I was unsure of what to expect (other than the cold weather) yesterday when I walked to the outdoor stage. There were approximately 150 supporters sitting on blankets of lawn chairs, waiting for the show to begin. I was showed to the judges table and introduced myself to the other judges. One girl was from a local radio station, the man was the photographer of the pageant, and the other lady was a florist who was a long time resident of Lasalle.

None of the other judges including myself had ever judged a pageant before and we were all anxious to see the girls. Once we were explained how to score the girls, the show began. They did their opening number song first, modeling second, talent third, and evening gown fourth. Some contestants were very charismatic and confident, some were nervous and doubtful.

Talent

There were a variety of talents that ranged from artwork and painting, self defence or baking. Some contestants danced, and others sung. No one talent was even remotely close to another, all were very creative.

 Gowns

The girls’ gowns were such a variety as well! Some were princess, some had lots of sequences, and some had animal print. The girls had escorts who they chose to walk them on stage and hand them a flower. There were dads, boyfriends, and brothers, all dressed in handsome suits.

Time

Judging was a lot harder than I expected.  I felt as though we did not have adequate time to thoroughly score them in every category, and that we were rushing to finish our scoring. We did our best though and after all our scores were combined we emerged with our top three.

Final Question

The top three girls were each given a final question to answer. I was nervous for the girls as they answered their questions. I remembered what it was like to know that the final decision all comes down to this one final answer; I remember the pressure and nerves.  The three questions given to the girls were

1.       What is one life lesson parents should pass onto their children

2.       If you won the lottery what would you do with the money

3.       If you could pick somebody influential in the world to trade places with for a day who would it be and why?

Overall

The overall winner chosen was Vanessa DiPasquale. The judges were pleased with the decision made, and I was pleased for her as I know she’s wanted to win a title for quite some time now. Judging was a lot harder than I expected; however, I am SO happy I got this opportunity to see the other side of things. I believe that getting an idea of what the judges are looking at will benefit me in the upcoming pageant. All the contestants

Myself and the winner

Myself and the 2nd runner up